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30 Days of Being Gluten Free

Some of you know that for the past 30 days Katie and I have been eating gluten free.

Why?

It isn’t because I wanted to torture myself by taking grain out of my diet and make eating more difficult. I haven’t been tested, but most of my family has a gluten intolerance and for the longest time, I would have a ton of stomach pain after eating certain foods, mostly, bread.

Over the holidays we got 2 cookbooks: Practical Paleo and True Food. We decided we’d take 30 days, go gluten free and see if it made a difference in my stomach.

Here’s what I’ve learned:

There’s no way I’m going back. I was skeptical about eating gluten free because of how much I like bread and how it would change my diet. After eating gluten free for a month, there’s no way I’m going back. The stomach pain I used to have is gone and my energy level is higher than ever.

If you do your homework, you can cook some amazing food. Admittedly, there are some great food items that I can no longer eat. Pasta is different when it is gluten free or you steam zucchini. It tastes similar, but it is different. If you do your homework, you can eat some amazing food. Every meal we’ve had so far has been incredible.

If you cut out grain, you have to eat a ton. Carbs take up a ton of space in your stomach. Consequently, they take a lot of time to digest, which is what leads to so much weight gain. When you eat protein and vegetables, you eat what seems like a lot more food because those foods take up less room in your stomach. This is more of a psychological/mental switch you need to make when you go gluten free.

If you like beer, going gluten free will be miserable. I’m from the Northeast, which means I’ve always been a fan of Sam Adams. One of beer’s main ingredients is wheat. While there are a number of gluten free beers out there, if you are a fan of beer and go gluten free, you are in for a sad day. Thankfully, wine is gluten free.

You have to plan ahead. I have a lot of meetings at Starbucks, at lunches and I still want to take Katie out for date nights. Many places have gluten free menu’s or food items. They aren’t bad either. P.F. Chang’s, Pei Wei, Pasco Kitchen all have gluten free items. Tucson Tamale is gluten free, if you don’t eat the tortilla’s at Chipotle it’s gluten free. If you go without the bun at In N Out, and now Sauce has gluten free sauce. At Zinburger, you can ask them to cook the fries in a separate fryer so they are gluten free and get the burger without a bun and you are good to go.

If you’ve gone gluten free for health or diet reasons, what has made the switch work for you? Why would you tell others to do it?